Deviants' fair returns to Folsom Street

NEWS

by Tony K. LeTigre

More than 400,000 people from around the world attend the
Folsom Street Fair each year, making it the largest leather/fetish event in the
world and the third largest outdoor one-day event in California.

Only San Francisco's Pride celebration and the Rose Parade
in Pasadena top it in number of participants, but you can't be flogged in
public for charity at the Rose Parade.

"One of the great things about the leather community is
the creativity and openness around sexuality and self-expression," said
Jacob Richards, president of Folsom Street Events, during a recent coffee date
with the Bay Area Reporter. "It's
not specific to the fair, but the fair is a wonderful celebration of this
aspect of the community."

Folsom is just one day, but there's plenty of buildup.

It starts the last Sunday in July with Up Your Alley Street
Fair – Dore Alley, in common parlance. Last Sunday, September 18 saw Mama
Reinhardt's Family lead its annual Leather Walk (now in its 20th year) to fight
AIDS and breast cancer. The Leathermen's Discussion Group holds a Fetish Fair.

Preceding the main event this Sunday, September 25 is
Leather Pride Week: seven salacious days of film screenings, discussion panels,
spanking parties, motorcycle rides, and a formal dinner, climaxing with the
world-renowned street fair.

For some, kink is confined to just one weekend of each
calendar year or their tourist photos of San Francisco. To others it's a
pervasive hobby, even something approaching a philosophy, code of conduct, or
way of life.

"The leather/fetish/kink community is made up of people
of all genders and sexual orientations," Richards explained. "But the
different parts of the community often don't interact very much with each
other. The great thing about Folsom is that it brings them all together, in a
celebratory public space."

In 2008 Richards curated a 25th anniversary exhibit at the
GLBT Historical Society that explored the history and evolution of the Folsom
Street Fair. He has been on Folsom's board of directors since the end of 2005;
this is his second year as president.

This year boasts an official Folsom after-party, Deviants,
taking place near the fair site at Public Works (161 Erie St.) and continuing
all through the night.

Deviants had a trial run in 2010. It is expected to take off
this year, with the help of collaborators Hard French, Some Thing, and Honey
Soundsystem.

"We are
really excited about the new direction for Deviants this year," said
Richards. "It will kick off at 3 p.m. with a block party that keeps the
big-tent celebratory feel of the fair going."

Richards added this will be the 6th consecutive year when
Folsom will have a dedicated women's space, Venus' Playground on Ninth Street.

"The space was created because of requests we'd been
getting from the community. Women wanted to be able to find their friends, to
escape from the crowd and have a safe space of their own," he said.

The fair, in the opinion of some, has become tamer than in
years past, in the sense of less overt sexuality. Recent years have seen police
push for a crackdown on public sex acts, and fair organizers have been stricter
in enforcing rules governing proper behavior at the event.

But Gayle Rubin, an influential theorist and cultural
anthropologist who has devoted years to first-hand study of the Folsom leather
scene, offered a nuanced perspective.

"In some ways it has gotten more wild," Rubin told
the B.A.R. "There is more nudity,
more masturbation, and more SM [sadomasochism] play in the booths. It was
certainly far tamer in 1985. I suppose it depends on what is the point of
comparison."

The FAQ on the fair's official website states, "Folsom
Street Events maintains local community standards, such as at Bay to Breakers
and the Castro Street Fair. As fair organizers, we do draw the line with public
sex."

Richards explained, "While the fair is all about
celebrating sexual freedom, we do have to stay within the bounds of what the
law allows. Thankfully, there are many ways to have fun at the fair without
crossing that line."

This year's fair will showcase more than 220 exhibitors and
a dedicated artists' area featuring 10 jury-selected artists.

PrinceHerman, a self-described "gay married ethical
slut," is one of the artists selected by the jury for a booth this year.
He makes stained-glass pornography, and this year has a series of works made
from copper.

"As we are recognizing the tenth anniversary of 9/11, I
feel unusually patriotic," princeHerman, whose real name is Ronald Symansky,
told the B.A.R. "This fair
celebrates American values by protecting many freedoms that allow this fair to
occur. The right to assemble, free speech, freedom of religion."

PrinceHerman, 43, said he has only missed the fair once in
the past 20 years. When he first started attending, the fair felt to him like
an event primarily for leathermen, but he has seen it grow more diverse over
the years.

"As an artist that deals with sexual subject matter,
this fair has embraced me and celebrated me," he said.

"For all its fetish wear, the Folsom Fair is really
about openness, tolerance, and acceptance. What Folsom reveals about human
nature is that sadomasochism is nearly everyone's secret guilty pleasure,"
he wrote.